


The Best Part of My Day

by BeccaAnne814



Series: Bucky Barnes x Reader Oneshots [11]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-12-01 01:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11475618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaAnne814/pseuds/BeccaAnne814
Summary: You work in a bakery and Bucky comes in every morning.  You look forward to his visits, but one day he doesn't show up.





	The Best Part of My Day

You loved your job.  You had worked at the same little bakery in New York since you were in high school.  Mrs. Morelli, the little old lady that owned the place, had hired you to work the register in the afternoons after school.  You had fallen in love the smell of fresh baked breads, donuts, and pastries.  It wasn't long before you were learning how to make them yourself.  When Mr. Morelli died a few years ago and Mrs. Morelli's arthritis got too bad for her continue kneading the bread, you took over the early morning baking.  It meant you had to get up before the sun, but you got to spend morning hours by yourself, and you got off work before noon.

Your mornings were all the same, you were at work by 3:00 am to start the dough for the days' worth of fresh baked bread.  By 6:00 am, you had all of your bread and pastries baked for the day and you would open the shop and work the register until around 8:00 am. 

You had followed this same schedule for years, so when you opened the shop that morning, you weren't prepared for what happened next.  Like always, you had unlocked the door promptly at 6:00 am, flipped the "Open" sign, and then went behind the counter to arrange the  pastries in the glass displays.  You had a few regulars, but they mostly didn't come in until closer to 7:00 on their way to work, so when the bell above the door rang at a few minutes after six, you were a little surprised.

You looked up to see a tall man enter the store.  He was wearing a ball cap pulled low on his head over long shaggy dark brown hair, and his face was covered in a few days' growth of beard.  He was wearing dark jeans, a black t-shirt under a maroon Henley shirt with what appeared to be two different coats; one was a brown zip-up hoodie and the outer coat was black.  He also had on thick black gloves.  

His appearance, the long hair, unshaven face, and multiple layers made you automatically assume that he was homeless.  Your heart went out to the poor, unfortunate soul.  You quickly put a smile on your face and said, "Good morning!"

The stranger looked at you for a moment, but didn't say a word.  He curtly nodded his head to acknowledge your greeting, but then proceeded to ignore you as he looked over the breads and pastries you had just placed in the cases.  

You took the opportunity to really look at the stranger while he was busy perusing the baked goods.  For a homeless man, he didn't seem all that dirty, just a bit scruffy.  His eyes were an intense blue that seemed to be full of pain and sorrow and you wondered what had happened in his life to put that sad, faraway look into the beautiful eyes.  He was probably a veteran who couldn't find a job once he returned from the war.  You couldn't help but think, even with his unkempt appearance, that he was extremely attractive.  

"Is there anything in particular you are looking for?" you asked.

"Bear claw," he responded, looking up at you with those gorgeous eyes.

You quickly wrapped up the pastry and moved to the register to ring up his order.  "That'll be $1.67."

The man removed his right glove to begin digging through his pockets for the money.  You watched him carefully count out every penny and made a hasty decision.  This man was obviously homeless and was probably starving.  You walked over to the coffee pot and poured some into a small to-go cup.  

The man handed you the exact amount of the order and you handed him the pastry and the coffee.  "Have a nice day," you told him as he looked up at you in confusion.

"I didn't order a coffee," he told you.

"First customer of the day," you informed him. "It's on the house."

"Thank you," he said as he turned to leave the shop.

 

 

Since moving into the Avenger's Tower with Steve, Bucky had taken to walking the streets of New York after a nightmare.  He couldn't bring himself to immediately go back to sleep with all of the horrors in his head, both those that Hydra had committed against him and those that he had committed himself.  He wandered the streets, looking for anything that seemed familiar to him from his past.

Most of the stores were closed up and dark, so when he rounded a corner and saw one with all of the lights on, it caught his attention.  Looking at the sign, he saw that it was a bakery, and taking a deep breath, he could smell the freshly baked breads and pastries.  

He was about to continue his early morning wanderings, when you suddenly appeared.  You were carrying trays to the glass displays and carefully arranging the items on the shelves.  Your hair was up in a messy bun and you had flour smeared across one cheek.  You were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Bucky stood in the shadows watching you for what seemed like hours, so when you walked to the door and flipped the sign, he automatically walked across the street to enter the shop.

Walking in, he was greeted with the aromas of fresh baked bread and the sweet sugary scent of warm cinnamon buns.  When you turned to greet him, his breath caught at the sight of your radiant smile.  It took him a moment to comprehend the question you had asked him.  What was he looking for?  He wanted to answer, "You.  I've been looking for you all my life, I just didn't realize it," but that would have been creepy and you would have probably kicked him out and called the police.  His brain didn't seem to be working right this morning, so he answered with the first type of pastry he could think of.

When you rang up his order, he silently cursed himself.  He hadn't grabbed anything on his way out of the Tower, so all he had was the change in his pocket.  He silently prayed that he had enough to buy the pastry as he carefully counted the coins in his hands.

He was surprised when you handed him the coffee as well, and he realized what you must think of him.  He preferred to try to blend in and stay unnoticed, so it wasn't a shock to him that you probably thought he was homeless.  He wanted to say something, tell you his name, something, but your smile had him paralyzed, so he said "Thank you" and walked away.

 

After that morning, you saw more and more of your new friend.  It was always the same, every morning.  He would walk in shortly after you opened the door, usually wearing the same hat and coats, sometimes the same shirts, but always wearing the gloves.  He would ask for a bear claw and then proceed to dig in his pockets for the correct change while you wrapped up the pastry and poured him a cup of coffee.  

One morning, he didn't come.  He had been in every morning for two weeks straight and you had started looking forward to his visits.  Maybe he hadn't had any money.  You felt bad for the poor guy.

It wasn't until the third morning in a row that he hadn't shown, that you started to get really worried.  What if he tried to rob someone and had been arrested?  What if he had gotten into a fight and was dying in a hospital somewhere?  Your imagination was running wild thinking of all the scenarios that could possibly be keeping him away.

You spent the entire morning that third day stressed out and worried.  Your coworkers noticed and when you told them about your mystery man, they began to tease you.  They accused you of having a crush, but you played it off as nonsense.  It's not like you were going to fall in love with a homeless man, right?  He was incredibly handsome with those mesmerizing blue eyes, but that was it.  He never really spoke to you, but somehow his early morning visits had become the best part of your day.

 

Later that evening, as you were flipping through the channels, you happened upon the news.  The Avengers were off somewhere continuing to keep the world safe.  The news feed was showing a video someone had recorded on their phone of the battle they were currently fighting.  You were about to change the channel when a flash of silver caught your eye.  That man had a metal arm.  You paused your TiVo to get a better look, when recognition set in.  That was your homeless friend!

You spent the rest of the evening Googling everything you could on Bucky Barnes.  You couldn't believe that you had thought he was homeless all of this time.  You were a little angry that he hadn't told you who he was, but then again, he probably just wanted to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible and you couldn't blame the guy.

 

 

Bucky and Steve were sitting in the back of the Quinjet on their way back from their latest skirmish with Hydra.  Bucky had his eyes closed and was rubbing his forehead.

"What's wrong, Buck," Steve inquired.

"Got a killer headache," Bucky replied.  "I could really use a cup of coffee."

"Since when do you drink coffee?" Steve asked.

Realizing his slip up, Bucky decided it would just be easier to come clean with his best friend.  He told him about his early morning walks and how he had stumbled upon the little bakery with the beautiful woman.  He told him how sweet and kind you were, always giving him a free cup of coffee.  He finally admitted that seeing your smile every morning was the best part of his day.

Steve was thrilled that Bucky had met someone and was convinced that you liked him, or else you wouldn't give him a free cup of coffee every morning.  Bucky tried to tell him that it was complimentary for being the first customer of the day, but Steve just gave him a look as if saying only an idiot would believe that.

 

It was almost a week before Bucky made it back to the little bakery, but you had been anxiously waiting for him.  When he walked through the door, you could barely contain your excitement.  You wanted so badly to ask him if he were okay, but you didn't want to ruin the rapport that you two had developed.

The two of you went through your routine as though nothing had changed.  You wrapped up his bear claw and was pouring his cup of coffee as he rummaged around in his pockets for his money.  You turned and smiled at him, handing him his purchase.

"You know, you don't have to keep giving me free coffee," Bucky said.

"Okay," you said after a moment.  "I'll make you a deal.  I get off around 11:00, why don't you come back by and you can repay me by taking me to lunch."

"You want to go on a date with me?" Bucky asked, confusion written all over his face.

"Yes, Bucky," you replied.  "I would love to go on a date with you."

Bucky looked at you in shock.  He wasn't aware that you knew who he was.  He had been scared that if you knew, you would never want him back in your shop again.  The look on your face now had him rethinking everything.

"Okay," Bucky finally said.  "It's a date."


End file.
